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 ermoy is a small town (population
approximately 5,000) situated in the centre of the lush Blackwater Valley.
 It is
on the crossroads between the Rosslare/Killarney and Dublin/Cork routes.
Renowned for inland fishing, it is an attractive base to explore the history and amenities
of north and east Co. Cork.
The town has its roots in two main traditions: Religious and Military. A Cistercian Abbey
was founded in 1170 and around this Abbey the town developed. At the dissolution of the
Monasteries during the Tudor period, the Abbey and its lands passed through the following
dynasties: Viscount Rote of Fermoy, Sir Richard Grenville, Robert Boyle, Scientist
("Boyle's Law"), and William Forward. Fermoy today still retains the religious
tradition and three orders are currently educating the young population - St. Colemans and
the Presentation and Loretto Convents. The town is famous for attracting future
professionals and scholars who spend their formative years in Fermoy.
In 1791 the lands were bought by a Scotsman, John Anderson. He was an entrepreneur who
developed the roads and started the mail coach system in Ireland. He designed the town and
the streets remain much the same as they were originally built. In the early 19th Century
he offered cheap sites to the military and the town fast became a manufacturing and
services base for the British army until 1922.
In latter years Fermoy has been renowned for its attraction as an inland fishing centre
and has an international appeal for trout, salmon and coarse fishing, the Blackwater and
Funshion rivers being the main waters, and a coarse fishery being developed near the town
at Knockannig Reservoir.
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